The Competition Bureau has approved Bell‘s $3.38-billion proposed takeover of Astral Media, but with conditions.
The federal regulator is requiring Bell to sell several of Astral’s pay and specialty television channels including the Family Channel, Teletoon, and the Cartoon Network.
The approval also includes restrictions on Bell that prevent imposing restrictive bundling requirements on any provider seeking to carry the Movie Network or Super Ecran.
The Competition Bureau said without the sale Bell’s acquisition of Astral’s pay and specialty television channels the deal would likely have led to higher prices and reduced choice for television programming.
The proposed deal is still subject to review by the CRTC. The broadcast regulator rejected the deal last year, but Bell has since revised its proposal in hopes a revamped proposal will be approved.
The CRTC is expected to announce a decision on new public hearings this week.
